POMONA >> In what has become a Friday tradition during the NHRA Auto Club Finals, grandstand section 24 will be a gathering place for friends and those who knew Top Fuel driver Bobby Baldwin of Upland.

Baldwin died Sept. 23, 2001, at age 53, from a brain aneurysm. He became a fan favorite at Fairplex before he started his racing career as he lent his water truck from his grading company to help control the sand trap during the races and contributed to the tower behind the starting line. Baldwin started racing in the 1980s.

Baldwin was the son-in-law of the sport’s “Golden Greek,” Chris Karamesines, and father of Krista Baldwin, who is embarking of her own drag racing career.

“It’s so great seeing everyone in their Bobby Baldwin shirts. It really warms the heart knowing that this one individual had an impact on so many people,” his daughter said about the annual tradition that started around 10 years ago. “Many people participate and gather in the grandstands during the qualifying sessions of Top Fuel and Funny Car.

“We like to keep his spirit alive by coming together to the Fairplex where he watched the NHRA drag races since he was a kid, where he worked and met some of his best friends, and where he lived his dream in a Top Fuel dragster.”

Eye on 2016

The 2015 season isn’t quite over, but Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson already has an eye on the 2016 campaign. That’s the result of having an offseason of less than 50 days before the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series returns to Fairplex for the Winternationals.

“The Finals are just the next race before the Winternationals, because the offseason is over before you know it,” Wilkerson said. “We’re going to have some turnover before next year, in terms of manpower, so we’ll have that to deal with that and we’ll try to get everyone up to speed as best we can.”

Wilkerson is in the 10th spot, six points behind Cruz Pedregon and 33 from Alex deJoria. He’s hoping to overcome clutch issues in the season finale so he can have a single-digit number for the next season.

“We’re just trying to get our ducks in a little better row before 2015 is over,” he said. “Our budget doesn’t allow us to do nearly as much testing as these other playoff teams do, so we want to finish this year on a better note to give us a leg up on 2016. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not treating Pomona as a test session.

“We’re going to race and hopefully win, but right now we have some gremlins in the clutch system and if we sort those out we’ll not only feel a little better about ourselves but we’ll also have a good chance to move up a spot or two in the standings.”

Record run?

The national speed record for a Pro Stock Motorcycle is 199.88 mph, set by Hector Arana Jr. earlier this year in Concord, N.C. In 2012, Eddie Krawiec established the Fairplex mark with a run of 198.29.

In addition to the class championship, there’s also a competition to see who’ll be the first over 200 mph.

“There’s absolutely a chance to go 200,” said Jerry Savoie, second in the points to Andrew Hines, and ahead of Krawiec. “We went almost 199 in Dallas and the conditions in Pomona are going to be better. We definitely think we have a chance. We’ve got a good program going on right now and if we find it, (the motorcycle) will go 200.”

Savoie, the alligator farmer, enters the season finale trailing Hines by 46 points, but is 37 ahead of Krawiec.

“We’ve got a couple of goals in Pomona and we want to run 200 if it’s there,” said Savoie. “But we also want to go out there and try to win the race and see what happens. “Those guys are as solid as a rock.

“They’re seven-time world champions between them and you don’t win that many on luck. Those guys are good, and they’re in the position they are for a reason. I have a lot of respect for them and I call Andrew ‘Iceman’ because you can’t rattle him.”

Lou Brewster is a nationally recognized motorsports journalist who has staffed NASCAR and NHRA events since 1969. Has also staffed high school football, in five different states, since 1967. Has won several national awards in writing and breaking news.

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